Páidí
Say it: PAW-dee
BoyIrishMeans a pet form of Pádraig (Patrick)5 letters2 syllables
#12
in Ireland (2025)
248
babies in 2025
#12
best rank (2025)
1,119
babies since 2005
Up 209
10-year rank change
Páidí through the years
Compare with another name →Show the numbers
| Year | Babies (boys) | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 248 | #12 |
| 2024 | 206 | #21 |
| 2023 | 157 | #29 |
| 2022 | 115 | #58 |
| 2021 | 84 | #81 |
| 2020 | 56 | #108 |
| 2019 | 42 | #142 |
| 2018 | 39 | #152 |
| 2017 | 32 | #184 |
| 2016 | 28 | #201 |
| 2015 | 25 | #221 |
| 2014 | 18 | #267 |
| 2013 | 16 | #282 |
| 2012 | 6 | #500 |
| 2011 | 13 | #326 |
| 2010 | 8 | #422 |
| 2009 | 10 | #366 |
| 2008 | 3 | #698 |
| 2007 | 3 | #629 |
| 2006 | 6 | #385 |
| 2005 | 4 | #448 |
Source: CSO, Irish Babies' Names (VSA50, VSA60), CC BY 4.0. Spellings with and without fadas are combined; the CSO only recorded fadas from 2018.
★ What does Páidí mean?
A pet form of Pádraig (Patrick)
Irish, a pet form of Pádraig, the Irish form of Patrick.
Say it right
PAWdee
The fada makes the first "a" long, as in "paw". In English it is sometimes written Paudie.
Not:PAY-deePAD-ee
The story of Páidí
Páidí is a pet form of Pádraig, the Irish form of Patrick. Patrick goes back to the Latin Patricius, a nobleman. Patrick Woulfe listed Páidí in 1923 as an everyday form of Pádraig, the Irish match for the English Paddy.
The best-known bearer is Páidí Ó Sé (1955-2012) from Ceann Trá in the Kerry Gaeltacht, remembered as one of the great Gaelic football defenders. He won eight All-Ireland senior medals as a Kerry player and two more as their manager.
Páidí is new to the CSO lists. It first had three or more babies in a year in 2005, and it has soared since, from number 221 in 2015 to number 12 in 2025, with 248 babies. The CSO did not record fadas before 2018, so these figures add Páidí, Paidi and the other spellings together.
Say it differently where you're from, or spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Sources
- Patrick Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923)
- Wiktionary: Pádraig (Irish proper noun)
- Wikipedia: Páidí Ó Sé
- CSO VSA50, Boys Names in Ireland with 3 or More Occurrences
At a glance
Similar names
Sibling ideas
Spellings counted here
| Spelling | 2025 | All years |
|---|---|---|
| Páidí | 239 | 920 |
| Paidí | 5 | 19 |
| Pàidì | 4 | 4 |
| Paidi | under 3 | 172 |
| Páidi | under 3 | 4 |
In Northern Ireland
#75 in 2025 with 32 babies. Best rank #75 (2025); 193 babies since 2004.
Source: NISRA, Open Government Licence.